Many attempts have been made to design tires that have superior performance on wet roads and which significantly reduce the aquaplaning phenomena at high speed on water covered roads. Well known examples are the Goodyear Aquatread (U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,037), the Michelin Catamaran (European Pat. App. EP 465,786 A1), and dual or multi-tire wheels. However, large grooved tires, such as the Goodyear Aquatread have reduced anti-aquaplaning as the tread wears.
The predecessor development tire to the Catamaran was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,273 entitled Dual Tire. This early tire suffered from poor handling and ride problems and therefore was never commercially accepted. The primary feature of this tire was the employment of a third bead centrally disposed between two tread portions reinforced by belts. The use of three or more beads was not in itself novel and had been employed in several very early patented tires. However, the use of a third bead coupled with a large channel was new. EPO application publication No. 0613793A1 describes an improved third bead structure designed specifically to improve the handling characteristics of the Catamaran type tire.
Later patents have sought to improve upon the teachings regarding a third bead coupled with a large channel, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,658, EP 465786, JA 62-86404, and JA 62-86405. All of these patent teach placing the third bead core coupled with the large channel within the tire; i.e. incorporating the third bead core into the tire during the green building stage of the tire, prior to vulcanization. However, such a method of construction requires new and more complex building processes to permit the use of an inextensible bead ring at a location radially inward of the belt plies. Thus, the manufacturing of the tire is very complex and costly in regards to capital investment.